This invention relates to sheet metal tie members for connecting wood members in building structures. In addition to its use as a nearly universal tie member, it relates to sheet metal tie members for joining wood bottom chords of trusses to wood top plate members.
Early patents on metal joist hanger connectors date back to the late 1900's and were well developed by the early 1960's. Universal joint connectors, however, were very slow in developing due to the reluctance of building industry craftsmen to give up the time honored "toe-nailing" practice.
In the Eastern United States, a few jointing connectors such as those disclosed in Linehan, U.S. Pat. No. 2,321,221, 1943; and Maxwell U.S. Pat. No. 2,413,362, 1946; quickly gave way to simplified ties such as the one illustrated in FIG. 8. Note that the tie shown in FIG. 8 is almost a duplicate of Maxwell, supra, with the surplus wing element omitted.
In the Western United States, there is no evidence that either the Linehan or Maxwell's connector was ever used. Universal framing anchors were available in the early 1960's, but a tie such as the one illustrated in FIG. 9 was not offered on the West Coast until the early 1970's.
In 1984, Gilb obtained U.S. Pat. No. 4,572,695 for a wood jointing connector, and this connector has received enthusiastic acceptance in the do-it-yourself market.
It is still a fact that sheet metal jointing connectors simply are not commercially accepted unless they are demonstrably superior to toe-nailing and cheaper, stronger, and easier to install than previous sheet metal connectors.